Recap - Ireland vs America

So. It's now the 30th October 2010 and after stumbling back across this blog, I am pissed off at myself because I realise that when I setup the blog in April 2009, looking back there is no way I would have had nearly enough time and/or energy to put into writing it that Summer. And I didn't - and that's the reason why this is the first update in 15 months.

A lot happened in that 15 months. Since then I have been to Watford, Lithuania, Boston, Portugal (twice), Belgium and back. Boston was the most interesting. As many of my friends would already know, I was due to attend college there for 2 years (at Northeastern University as part of DCU's academic programme) which I thought would be great because then I would also have the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Athletics system. As it turned out, my 2 years was cut short to 2 months, and before I knew it I was back in DCU and running in the Dublin XC Championships yet again. The way the sporting setup was over there didn't register with me at all and looking back now I feel like I made a tough, but right call. I really enjoyed my short time over there and all the guys on the NU XC team made me feel right at home and it was a pleasure to get to know them. I will go back hopefully in the near future and catch up - and also kill some 10 mile Franklin park loops (I miss the Bearcage).

The class setup over there however was phenomenal. It really is a different world of learning when you are in the American system. The quality of the lectures and the whole process of learning there is so much more efficient and beneficial to what I have experienced in Ireland. In fact, I was shocked to come back to Ireland and dive straight back into lectures here and see the difference after experiencing the quality over there. Small class sizes, in-depth case analysis every class and massive marks for class participation were the key factors over there that made the difference. That and the pure desire to learn. This desire to learn is largely missing in Irish business schools, and after careful thought I am quite certain a lot of it boils down to the fees issue. College in America is taken extremely seriously by students. And what helps is the fact that with small class sizes, all marked on class participation, you can't afford not to be serious. And where do the small class sizes stem from? Fees. We don't have fees here and to be completely honest I won't be the first person to be marching in protest against them coming in. As long as fee introduction is accompanied with a loan scheme which is accessible to all levels of society I think it would be a very positive development for Ireland. Not only would it narrow the gap in the exchequer, but it would also make prospective students think very carefully about whether they actually want to go to college, learn, and make an effort with it and look carefully at what career they really want to pursue, instead giving the government and the taxpayer the fingers and taking them for a 4 year free ride. 

A story for another day. Getting late now and although the clocks go back an hour tonight, I've still got to run the Dublin XC Champs tomorrow. Let's hope it's a good one. Happy Halloween.

Brendo's Afternoon Bite: Week 1 - Insomnia

I think it is worth noting in this blog (on an on-going basis), the incredible value breakfast and lunch deals that are available in the city centre these days. I mean, all this talk of pay cuts, pension levies and all that......people are obviosuly unaware of these great deals. I think if people are feeling angry or betrayed by our government, they should take out all their anger on these lunch deals to help turn this situation around.

Eating out has become the new eating in (I think I stole that from Four Star Pizza, but it's the other way around so it's alright).

Brendo's Bite

1. Insomnia:

ANY sandwich and ANY coffee for €5
ANY Panini and ANY coffee for €6
and I think it's ANY scone and coffee for €3

The deal is made sweeter when you think that if you were to buy these items separately, you would pay:

Chicken and Bacon Gourmet Sambo (€5.40)
Large Cafe Latte (€3.40)

Total €8.80 (saving of €3.30)

Kudos to Bobby Kerr* and his entourage whoever they are, they bit the bullet and took the plunge before anyone else. I think it's pathetic that O'Brien's would counter with not only the same deal, but less value. Wheres the originality there Brody**?Their counter was "Any REGULAR sandwich and any REGULAR hot drink for €5". Given the fact that Insomnia is preodominantly a coffee-making company (and even still their ready-made sandwiches are arguably better than that of O'Brien's), the competition between these two chains looks nothing more than a puppet show, with Big Bobby pulling the strings.

Going back to the Insomnia deal, the sandwiches are great-tasting and attractively packaged, making you feel like you are getting even more value for money. Ready made sandwiches, as far as I am concerned, have come a long way in recent years. Competition is tightening and customer satisfaction is now a top priority for any business. Long gone are the days when you would walk into a top coffee shop and pick up a sandwich that was 2 weeks out of date and pay €6 for it.



*Bobby Kerr is one of the dragon's on the hit TV show Dragon's Den which has arrived on Irish screens this season. He is also the man behind the coffee giant Insomnia, click the link below to see his profile:

http://www.rte.ie/tv/dragonsden/profile_bobby.html

**Meanwhile (in the blue corner) Brody Sweeney set-up O'Brien's Sandwich Bar in 1988. He has also applied his expertise in the food and catering industry to his restauarant chain Cafe Bar Deli, as well as being active in international aid circles with his Ethiopian charity called Connect Ethiopia. Click the link below to find out more:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article1169990.ece

Day 7

Monday 27th April

Welcome to the real world. Keeps repeating itself over and over in my head these days. Looking back now I realise that 4th year in secondary school was the ultimate. No work and all play - sleeping, training, making an appearance in class, hiding in the jacks during double-maths. Doesn't get any better! College is good aswell but the two-weeks before exams really puts a spanner in the works.

Alarm rings at 6:45am, up out of bed for an easy run and that hangover pain in the back of the calves still resides from the first track race of the season (IUAA 5,000m, Sat. 25th April - 1st). For a change, the rising sun on Sandymount Strand makes for scenic running along the Irishtown nature trails out towards the Poolbeg Lighthouse. There is that cool early morning bite in the air, but my Nike dri-fit outfit does well to cancel it out. Locals are out for their early morning walk and looking out onto the strand from the hilltop makes it all not too bad. It's easy to look at the negative side of missing out on the Varsities banquet on Saturday night in Limerick, but in order to break new ground it's also very necessary to look at the positives.

I'm now starting into my second week of my work placement in the city centre. I'm getting used to arriving into work at 9am with a run already under the belt. Ok, it is very tough. There is no time to yourself. at the end of work each day it is straight into the running gear, legit up Grafton Street, onto the Luas, and run 2 miles with a big bag on your back before you even arrive at Marlay Park for the main session. Training starts at 6pm, by the time we wrap up and make our way home it is closing in on 8pm. Add in shower, stretching, dinner etc and before you know it you are thinking about the next 6:45am start - which by then, is only a matter of hours away. Tough schedule. But then again, what did Jumbo Elliot say in Coghlan's book? "God dammit, you gotta get up at the same time every day, eat and the same time every day, and even SHIT at the same time every day". Routine is the diet of champions (along with porridge), and although my situation is not ideal, it does help in some ways.

Bring on another week. It's 10am as I type and the sun is rising high in the sky as I look out the window of my office which overlooks the Liffey at O'Connell Bridge. There is an air of optimism about the city this morning, a welcome change from what it says on the front page of the Metro most mornings. The month of May is upon us, soup and gloves are out and BBQ's and sunglasses are in. Peace out D-town.

Introduction

Intro:

To briefly introduce this blog, I will put my decision to start it into perspective. It is a Sunday evening (closing in on 9pm) and I am sitting in my kitchen on my laptop, bored out of my tree. I have to be up at 06:30am (for training and work) and the car has been taken on me, so there is no point in leaving the house. I also have an essay due very shortly which I cannot bring myself to actually do, so here I am - procrastinating.

On a more relevant note, I am also going to do this blog for a number of other reasons:

1. Track season 2009: I have missed the last 3 track seasons due to injury and other setbacks, so this year will be made all the sweeter. Also, Irish Athletics has plenty of prospects for this season's European Junior and U23 Championships, so there is plenty to look forward to.

2. Full time work placement: to add to the mix, I am working 9-5 in an office job from April until the beginning of August. This coupled with a pretty sick training regime (as for all distance runners) is going to make for a mammoth workload this Summer. I know that working and training is a topical dilemma for distance runners around our age with college graduation on the horizon, so I am going to try and get as much of my experience of it down here on paper as possible.

3. College 2009-2011: Having been a part of the DCU Athletics Academy system for 2 years now, I am finally going to experience the athletics scene over in the US in September, as part of Northeastern University, M.A. I want to gather some momentum with this blog throughout the Summer before going over where I can then compare the pros and cons of the Irish and American system.

4. On a less relevant note, I also manage a nationwide customised clothing business. Check out my website www.tshirtkingireland.com for details. We have been running for nearly two years now, and all enquiries are welcome!

Other random topics may be thrown in about the government, the Irish soccer team, banking crisis, Liverpool FC, all that jazz. Just to give the heads up. Nos vemos!

**PS** Please feel free to comment